Jail

CEDAR LAKE, Ind. - As new details emerge about the shooting rampage at an elementary school in Connecticut, we are learning about a chilling school threat that occurred on that same day against an elementary school in northwest Indiana. 60-year-old Von Meyer was taken into custody on Saturday after he threatened to go to the Jane Ball Elementary School to "kill as many people as he could before police could stop him. " Meyer lives only 1,000 feet from the school, and the two properties are connected through a series of trails and paths.

DOWAGIAC, Mich. - A Dowagiac cemetery has been vandalized, and police now have a suspect. Around 10 a.m. Monday, a city crew was in Riverside Cemetery for maintenance and cleanup. The crew found several headstones that had been damaged and called police. Officers found 61 headstones in all had been damaged or removed from their bases. A number of flowerpots had also been damaged. Initial damage estimates were in excess of $16,000. A 19-year-old Dowagiac man was arrested and booked in the Cass County Jail Tuesday for the crime.

DUNLAP - Two people are behind bars after police busted a meth lab in Elkhart County Sunday night. Around 9:30 p.m., police got a tip about a wanted suspect and a meth making operation at 23995 Sunnyside Avenue in the Dunlap area between Elkhart and Goshen. Authorities say they found 24-year-old Christopher Sawyer and 21-year-old Lauren Semmerling manufacturing methamphetamine in the home. Both were hauled to the Elkhart County Jail on felony charges of manufacturing meth, possession of hypodermic needles, neglect of a dependent and misdemeanor charges of possession of drug paraphernalia and precursors to manufacture meth.

We should know more by the end of the day about what officials can do to tackle an overcrowding problem at the LaPorte County Jail. Earlier this month we learned Sheriff Mike Mollenhauer and the County Council may be closer to an agreement to reopen a wing that was closed last month. Sheriff Mollenhauer closed it because he couldn't pay overtime to deputies. Since then he's told WSBT the State Board of Accounts supervisor made it clear he can use funds collected from misdemeanors to pay for overtime.

BERRIEN COUNTY - The Berrien County prosecutor says it's dangerous for the public, but there's no other choice. So far this year, judges there have allowed more than 340 people to get out of jail early and let dozens of others off with no jail time at all. The reason? There simply isn't enough room in the jail. State law allows the county's chief judge to decide which prisoners should be let out early and which offenders get off without serving any jail time at all because of overcrowding.

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY - A 17-year-old boy was just sentenced for allegedly raping a 13-year-old girl. Kody Oliver wasn't sentenced to any jail time but was sentenced to 6 years probation. He must also register as a sex offender. Oliver pleaded guilty in August to child molesting. Police say Oliver forced the girl to have sex with him at a home in Lakeville over the Thanksgiving weekend last year.  

There's an update to a budget problem that forced part of the LaPorte County Jail to be closed down. Sheriff Mike Mollenhauer and the County Council may be close to an agreement to reopen the wing that was closed last month. He cited recent comments by the State Board of Accounts supervisor. Mollenhauer says Tammy White made it clear the sheriff can use funds collected from misdemeanors to pay for overtime, but needs the County Council's approval. Mollenhauer says he will ask for that approval later this month.

MARTINSVILLE, Ind. (AP) - A judge says a central Indiana woman must serve six months in jail after pleading guilty to neglect in connection with the shooting death of her 6-year-old son by his older brother. WISH-TV reports (http://bit.ly/NNirUK) the Morgan County judge sentenced 29-year-old Amanda Vandagrifft of Martinsville to eight years but suspended all but six months Monday in connection with June 2011 death of Andrew Frye. She'll also serve two years of home detention and eight years on probation.

LAPORTE COUNTY -- The LaPorte County Sheriff says he has no choice but to close part of his jail and squeeze the inmates into already overcrowded cell blocks. The move resulted in what Sheriff Mike Mollenhauer said was a “mini-riot” last Friday. But there are some in the county who think the incident could've been easily avoided. There are usually dozens of inmates packed on the fifth floor of the LaPorte County jail. But the much-needed space has been empty for the past week or so, the result of a dispute between Mollenhauer and the county council.

ELKHART - Three men are behind bars after an early Sunday morning chase with police. Around 2:15 a.m., Elkhart County Sheriff's deputies tried to make a traffic stop near the intersection of County Roads 9 and 20 on Elkhart's south side. The driver of the car refused to stop and sped north into the city limits for about two miles. After traveling north onto Morehouse Ave, south of Main St., the vehicle reached a dead end, sailed over a ledge, overturned and landed on its top on a sidewalk near South Main and Indiana Ave. Police say 20-year-old Christian Serrato was driving the car and tried to flee from the wreck but was captured by officers.